[Sca-cooks] Re: Onion smell

[Jeff Gedney]

I used to do about 150 pounds a night (when I worked for a Diner chain that
specialized in Fried Onions burger topping, and Onion Rings)

I found that after 20 minutes or so, your eyes got used to them there was no
problem untill about a half hour after you got done, and your Tear ducts
started to revive. Then you sat in the freezer with a cold wet towel to the
eyes for a while.

>    My husband showed me a technique which got me through my 50lb
>    experience.
>    (I'm not a very experienced sous-chef, so if this is obvious
>    to everyone
>    else, forgive me.)  Basically, slice the onion in half
>    vertically, in other
>    words, from the root end up.  Remove the skin and place both
>    halves cut side
>    down on the cutting surface.  Make narrowly spaced cuts
>    running ALMOST all
>    the way to (but not through) the root end of the onion.  Cut
>    horizontally
>    down through the layers, getting a fine dice.  And, like
>    Adamantius said,
>    make sure you're using your sharpest knife.
>

I have a method for a quick dice that works pretty well for most bulk
situations.

Chop top and bottom, and cut through first layer if onion ( you usually have
to discard this first ring anyway since it usually is yucky or moldy
somewhere). And peel skin with the first layer. discard.
If you practice you can cut almost through the top and bottom leaving it all
attached by a single layer, and you can discard it in one motion.

Chop in half top to bottom, and lay halves in place cut side down on board.
Slice in place so that you have a stacked set of half rings on the board the
thickenss you desire. then starting at the very side cutting inward at an
angle slice through the stack as you slice towards the midline, bring the
knife back to vertical. at the halv rottate the stack 180 degrees and do it
again.
run your fingetrs through the mince to comb out the pieces that are not
chopped up good, and quickly cut them to size.
I can do a lot of onions very quickly this way, and this works for anything
down to about 1/4 inch. Smaller than that and you have to use the
traditional method.

Brandu